Full text taken from The Texan’s SwimBikeRunJourney Blog here: Tri Coach Georgia Augusta Camp aka 95 miles of training

Tri Coach Georgia Augusta Camp aka 95 miles of Training

I almost don’t even know where to begin to write about camp because there is so much to tell but, I want to start with thanking Tri Coach Georgia, Tri Augusta  & Savannah Riverkeeper for everything they did to make this camp a success. They worked hard to make sure we had great training and treated us to some classic southern hospitality 🙂 All the people in town and at the restaurants showed us the same hospitality. Augusta is a very gracious city to triathletes even though we clog their streets and sidewalks. Even if you do not race the IM Augusta 70.3, any triathlete would find this training very useful & you can’t find nicer people to train with! I left with such a grateful heart.

Travel Day:

Steve and & I flew into Atlanta then rented a car to drive to Augusta. We both forgot what a nightmare that airport is lol plus we had heavy rain getting to Augusta. We didn’t arrive in enough time to pick up our bikes from Outspokin but, that was not an issue as we had plenty of time to pick them up Friday before camp started at noon. We shipped my road bike and they put it together for me and they rented Steve a super nice Felt road bike. I was jealous of his high end gears on that Felt  while I was stuck with Tiagra  – more on that later but was missing my Ultegra gears on my TT bike!

Friday we picked up the bikes from Outspokin – great shop! Reminded me of our own Handlebar Cyclery here in Katy – great folks!

Camp Day One:  Bike & Swim

Camp kicked off at noon with a 31 mile bike ride on the back part of the 70.3 bike course. We rode with some really nice people and Tri Coach GA had a nice stop for us to refill our water bottles etc. In fact a little shower came down just as we pulled up ha. It didn’t last long though. By the time we refilled our bottles it has almost stopped. Bottom line, for this flat land girl these hills were no joke! Between the hills, the heat and the wind it was quite challenging but, happy to report I didn’t run out of gears lol. I was pretty relieved though when the coaches and some experienced cyclists of this course told us that was pretty much the worst the course had to offer. However, I had no illusions that Sunday’s ride of the full course would be any less challenging.

After the ride we went for a practice swim in the Savannah River, which was quite humorous as they had us swim upstream first then turn around and swim downstream. I swam upstream for 11 minutes and downstream for 2 minutes ha!! I was quite happy that Gatorfest the next day – 1.2 mile swim of the course would be all downstream.  I tested out my 2 piece Desoto wetsuit with add on neoprene sleeves. The water temperature was 69 degrees. This would be the coldest water I have swam in ever. But, once I was in the water after about 50 meters it felt rather refreshing. To my surprise this water was no more murky than anything we swim in here in Texas, in fact maybe nicer than some things we swim in here lol.

I was happy to have the practice swim under my belt as the end of day one of camp.

We also met a very nice couple Bev and Kevin and throughout the camp we were usually training close together as we were about the same paces. One of the nicest thing about camp was all the nice people we met & I could finally meet some Facebook friends in real life!

Camp Day Two:  Gatorfest swim & Run

Day two started out with Gatorfest – 1.2 mile swim of the Augusta 70.3 swim course.  This was a swim race for the real swimmers for me it was practice haha.  I can’t lie – I was very nervous. My before and after swim picture tells that tale almost better than I can write it up! I ran into a friend from Katy – Susan who is an accomplished triathlete and swimmer. She suggested that I pour water down my wetsuit before the start to help warm up. It worked like a charm.  By the way, she ended up winning  our AG. She’s amazing.

So my wave was called and I sat on the deck waiting for the gun to sound and when it did I slithered into the water. Didn’t hesitate as I figured it was like a band aid – just rip off !! Once I cleared the docks and started swimming straight to go under the bridges I had a pretty good rhythm going. It’s a point to point to swim so you swim straight until the turn buoy to the swim exit at the end of 1.2 miles. I was doing pretty well until I cleared both bridges and sighted too far ahead. I say that because it made me realize how far I had left to swim and I started to have some breathing issues. But, I took a deep breath and started counting my strokes to get my mind off it. For a while after I cleared the bridges I couldn’t see a buoy, a kayak or even a house on the shore plus I started swimming into the seaweed lol. At that point I just repeated keep swimming Dory just keep swimming. I never had to stop my free style stoke – just kept moving forward and my breathing settled.  There was a point where I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to make it but, I pulled it together and told myself you have done this distance in training a million times only you can stop you from getting to the finish. So I moved on with determination but, I can’t lie when saw the boathouse I knew I probably only had another 3 -4 minutes of swimming tops a sense of relief washed over me.  I was beyond thrilled when I exited the water. I honestly couldn’t believe I made it and I had only been in the water 30 minutes. I was expecting to be in the water 40 -45 minutes even with the downstream push as my last open water time trial it took me 55 minutes to swim it.

In retrospect I was swimming way too fast for my ability and that is why I had a bit of a struggle in the middle. I would have had a difficult time finishing if I needed to be in the water 50 minutes. I think the excitement and the fact I made the mistake of sighting way too far ahead too early gave me an adrenaline rush.That said, the water did not feel too cold in my wetsuit with the add on sleeves. That De Soto wetsuit is the Da Bomb and worth every dime I paid for it!

To my amazement I finished 13/24 in my AG , 56 /135  females & 106/221  overall with an official time of 30:40.  It was nice to feel like a real swimmer for the day. 🙂

The Ironman 70.3 swim will be far more crowded and more combative as the fast swimmers in the next waves catch up to me. Race day I will plan to slither in just behind everyone in my wave and try to stake out some ground. I suspect my time will be closer to 35 – 40 minutes race day due to those conditions and I will be beyond thrilled with that – hooray downstream swimming.

Next up the Augusta 70.3 run course.  I decided to do 7.5 miles, which was just a little more than one loop of the two looped course. Thus, technically I ran the entire course.  It was 11:30 am by the time we started the run so it was warm. But, I guess all my heat training is finally paying off, as I never left heart rate zone 2 – mostly stayed in heart rate zone 1. I could have run faster but the course was not closed so the sidewalk and roads were uneven in addition to crosswalks and parked cars. I decided to take it easy so the legs would be fresh for the 56 mile bike ride the next day which was a wise choice! The course race day other than one quiet section will be awesome as it is very spectator friendly and I know we will have a lot of people out there cheering us on plus an aid station every mile. For the practice run we had two aid stations, which was very helpful and appreciated! Race day I would like to finish this run in 2 hours 30 – 2 hours 40 but, anything under 3 hours I should be good as far as cut offs if the bike goes reasonably well.

Next up after a shower – clinics by the coaches:

The lectures were very useful and covered topics such as injury prevention and course tips.  We also received several good tips from table mates at the lecture.

Swim Course :

Higher turnover instead of full force pull. This hit the nail on the head for me because I truly felt I was using to too much energy pulling in a downstream swim.

Swimming in the center of river will yield the fastest time but, can be crowded (I will have to judge race day where to put myself as I will  have waves coming behind me swimming over me lol) Sight every 6-9 strokes. Buoys on the left shore to the right.

Bike Course:

T- 1 – Advised us to take it slow – mount the bike well past the mount line. Just settle in!

Bottom line the first 1/3 of the course is the “easiest” but, still challenging. This is the time to start settling into to the ride – get your nutrition in and don’t use too much power as you will need energy for later. This will indeed be my game plan. Best Bike Split has a cheat sheet on how much watts I should be pushing when and that will be taped to my bike.

The next 1/3 of the course there are some climbs and some very rough roads. (That vibration on he road bike did indeed make my hands very numb. Still feeling the effects in two of my fingers even today. )

There is one climb that lasts about 5 miles and it’s very deceiving as it almost looks flat but, it’s not.

The last 1/3 things start to get a little flatter after the last hill which I have named dead man’s curve  & it was where I dropped my chain on Sunday I shall be very careful there.

I found both days the back part of the course to be windy as well.

The coaches suggested taking the last few miles to spin the legs take care of nutrition needs and get mentally ready for the run.

Run Course:

It will be hot – that’s a given. They suggest to take the first mile very easy – run at a slower pace than you hope to end up with & start working on hydration and nutrition.  It is a two loop run so a mental challenge in places. The coaches suggested just take things mile by mile. The good news is the run course is very spectator friendly and they told us we will have a lot of people cheering us on as well as an aid station every mile. The best quote of the camp was in response to a question regarding training to run in the heat Coach Slayer said ” This is the Ironman, not the Pussyman.” Yes I realize some might find this offensive but, I loved it and it summed it up just perfect. Coach Slayer also suggested we have a mental mantra during the run and maybe write it on our arm.  Mine will be this quote for sure and I will write it on my arm! As he said it’s going to be hard that’s Ironman 70.3! But, as I have always said nothing easy is worth having though so – suck it up butter cup I say and let’s roll!

Last but, not least they encourage us to enjoy the finisher’s chute! That is truly my plan if I’m blessed enough to avoid mechanical and body failure and make it there.  No sprinting in for me unless I’m close to the cut off. Otherwise I plan to celebrate in the chute as I don’t know when I can realistically train at this level again anytime soon.

Day two of camp completed & it was a great day of  meeting new people and great training.

Camp Day Three:

Time to bike the entire 70.3 Course! As most of you know I train with power on a TT bike. But, I had the road bike at camp so I had to pace myself a bit differently. Luckily my heart rate zones are fairly close to my power zones & the person that tested my zones said my perceived exertion is pretty close to what is actually happening with my body. All pluses for pacing this ride.  However, my hands and feet did not take this ride very well on the road bike. My right foot became numb and painful after mile 30 and never let up. The hands were numb by mile 25 and that never let up either and my ring and pinky finger on the left are still a bit numb. It should pass though from what I read online about this. But, otherwise despite the challenge of this ride – trust me this course was no joke – I enjoyed it. The Tri Augusta group have 4 lovely stops for us to get water etc. What a great bunch to stand in the heat to serve us so we could ride the course.  Steve had a flat right at one of the stations and Alex helped him changed it so it went quicker! So nice and Alex also checked on us along the course to make sure we made it back ok. He came upon us when I dropped my chain on dead man’s curve and offered help but, Steve and I had it back on by then with no issues.

My goal was simply to learn the course and keep the heart rate around or just below tempo. Except on the steep climbs I managed that. I sure missed my TT bike with her good gears & power meter though so hope those things are functioning well race day!!

I learned a lot about pacing – when to push when to hold back and hopefully learned a lot about how to pace my nutrition on the bike. I also know I need to practice changing tires a lot before race day & learn how to put my chain back on!!

The computrainer was fairly accurate in terms of grade etc of the hills. However, you have to practice bike-handling skills outside. Steve gave me several tips on how to shift better etc. It is a bit scary coming downhill and I think race day it will be even harder as there will be so many people on the course. Steve is much better at gearing etc. so learned a lot from him on that. However, I am cautious and I don’t see that changing so I will focus on have a steady but, safe ride race day.

Bottom line – we stopped at all 4 aide stations, changed a flat, put back on a dropped chain and stopped one extra time for me to mix up UCAN (road bike can’t hold all my nutrition mixed up the way the TT bike can) and we still made it in 4 hours 19 minutes. Actual pedal time was 3 hours 37 minutes – ave of 15.34 mph for the entire course. Basically being a flat land girl that is cautious, anything under 4 hours for my bike split I would be happy with race day but, hope for 3:40< split.

There was a great after party when we came back from the ride – good food – good company. We sat with Bev & Kevin to eat and enjoyed discussing all things camp and look forward to seeing them back race week.  All and all a great ride on the bike course.

In summary, I enjoyed every minute of the 95 miles at camp this weekend. As the Tri Coach Georgia motto  says “ Chase Your Dreams – Slay Your Fears” – this camp helped me do just that!

Can’t wait for race day meanwhile, I have a lot of training left to do – game on!

As the 2015 Tri Coach Georgia Augusta Half Iron Training Camp approaches, we are getting daily emails about the camp. Some are folks sharing their excitement, some question why we have changed formats or the order of events, other folks question places to stay, where to eat, what can friends or family do while participating in the camp. A lot thank us for hosting the camp which leads me to reflect back on how we got to this point and why we do this at all.

Coach Slayer and I met several years ago through BeginnerTriathlete.com. I was a newbie prepping for the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Augusta and looking for a used wet suit. Phatknot as was his handle in BT was selling one (and a newbie himself). We connected and I drove to Athens from Augusta one rainy March morning and met him at his now infamous Pain Cave on Slayer Lake; Although he had yet to place even a toe in said lake. We met at his house, I grabbed the suit and headed back home with us both happy about the transaction and never thinking of seeing one another again.

Fast forward to August when I was sitting in the Marriott Riverfront Hotel at my first ever triathlon camp and across the room I see Phatknot (I didn’t come to know him as Slayer until Ironman 70.3 Augusta race weekend when he stayed in my home and that’s a whole other blog about that!!). We acknowledged one another and during a break began recollecting as to why we were familiar to one another when we realized simultaneously that we had done business together earlier in the year.

We swam, rode and ran together that weekend and left the camp completely at peace about the race course and what to expect on race day. We also became friends and followed similar paths in the multisport arena which brings me to this camp this year.

We do this camp for many reasons. One is that we love the sport and the people that make it what it is. Another reason is we want everyone to have a chance to be the best athlete they can be whether that is a world champion qualifier to a cut off time beating finisher. We also know several very dedicated athletes that didn’t make cut off times and are still champions in our eyes because of the commitment to themselves to do their job. We do it to give back to a sport that has brought us new friendships and has taken us places we would have never thought to go without triathlon. We do this for the reasons why we went to our own camp, to ease the apprehensions of the newbie.

I received an email last week by someone telling me how nervous they were about the race. They were following the training plan and triathlon and long distance runs weren’t new to them and they were still nervous. The unknown does that to us. We fear, sometimes to the point of non-action, that which we do not know or understand. As coaches, we help you face those fears so there is no apprehension. A quote on my Road ID is, “Know pain, No Fear” as I believe fear is simply a lack of knowledge.

We do this camp so you can have no fear. We want you fearless on race day from knowing you have went through a long, hard, hot and arduous weekend traversing every inch of the race course guided by coaches and other athletes that have been in your shoes. We all worry about the cold and dark river. The river weeds, the current, the snakes and the alligators. We all worry about the bike course and hills (they get flatter the more your ride them) and the heat. We worry about that miserably long, flat run course. It takes mental toughness to run a straight, flat 1.5 mile segment only to turn and do it again another 7 times and we teach you how to do it. We do this camp so you see all the course and have the tactics to crush it!

We do this for all of you. We would do this for just one of you. We do this so on race day you #DOYOURJOB and #REAPWHATYOUSOW!

See you at camp.

Brian Patterson, aka Coach Spartacus

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA TRAINING CAMP WEEKEND DETAILS

Click this LINK to visit the Facebook page with camp details etc.

FRIDAY: This day is an OPTIONAL, self-supported training day. Pair up with some new friends and get some training in!  See FB link above to introduce yourselves to others who are coming out for the weekend.

 

SATURDAY:                                                                                   

SWIM:
Chattanooga Open Water Swim Association hosts the U.S. Masters Swimming 2.4 Mile Open Water National Championship

• WHAT: Open Water Swim event
• WHEN:  9 am check-in. Swim heats start at 11 am
• WHERE: Tenneesee River Downtown Chattanooga Waterfront at Coolidge Park – 150 River St Chattanooga, TN 36405 USA

RUN GROUPS: 

• WHAT: Preview of the run course following Open Water Swim event. We will have nutrition/fueling samples from UCan and possibly other companies for campers to test.
• WHEN: 3 pm  (shortly after the swim awards)
• WHERE: Meet at grassy area in front of Cold Stone Creamery 100 Chestnut St, Chattanooga, TN 

GROUP SOCIAL & DINNER:

• WHAT: Group social and dinner
  
• WHEN: 6:30
• WHERE: Big River Grille Downtown – 222 Broad Street Chattanooga, TN  Phone: 423-267-2739.

SUNDAY:

LECTURES and BIKE COURSE PREVIEW RIDE: (ride SAG provided by All3Sports.com)

• WHAT: IM Chattanooga-specific racing/training information from TriCoachGeorgia.com and other Southeast U.S.-area coaches
• WHEN:  8 am – lectures (parking lot TBD).
  9 am  – group ride (options of one or two loops with multiple group leaders of various paces).
• WHAT: We are planning to have 3 different Pace Groups and 2 primary ride-length options (67 miles and 112 miles. There is also an 22-mile out/back option). See map link here and here. We are planning to have water placed at the Hog Jowl turn (approx. Mile 40), but to be sure, plan on self-supporting your ride.
• PACE GROUPS: Led by TriCoachGeorgia.com coaches and other local riders/coaches.
• WHERE: Bi-Lo parking lot. 3801 Tennessee Ave, Chattanooga, TN

POST-RIDE BRICK RUN: (swag provided by TriSports.com)

• WHAT: After the ride, we will have an optional self-supported brick run. It will be HOT. Dasani water will be supplied for all runners. If you have a specific beverage of choice, plan to bring your own hydration.